Thousands answer call to march against sexist violence

By Pierre DONADIEU and Aurélie CARABIN, with AFP bureaux (AFP)
Nov 24, 2018 in World

Tens of thousands of people rallied across Europe on Saturday against sexist violence, with more than 30,000 turning out in Paris, where a separate protest against rising fuel prices brought clashes.

Anti-violence rallies across France drew around 50,000 people in all, according to organiser Caroline de Haas, to answer a citizen collective's call for a "feminist tidal wave" of outrage against gender violence brought into sharp focus by the #MeToo movement.

Elsewhere a thousand people braved driving rain in Rome while similar protests drew several hundred demonstrators in Geneva and Athens.

"The fight against violence against women is progressing daily but our society has a long way to go -- everyone must act and fight as this is everybody's business," President Emmanuel Macron tweeted in offering his moral support.

Authorities put the Paris turnout at 12,000 and similar marches in Lyon, Marseille and Rennes at between 1,000 and 2,400, but De Haas felt moved to salute "the largest (feminist) mobilisation France has known," far bigger than a rally that drew some 2,000 last year.

Paris saw the largest protest as NousToutes (all of us) supporters demanded action a day ahead of the UN International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women

Xavier Agon, AFP

Participants clad in purple, the colour of the #NousToutes women's activist protest movement, shouted slogans including "sick of rape," "end impunity for aggressors" and "a woman is never responsible for the violence she suffers," while also demanding sufficient government resources to tackle the issue.

"I am here to support all the victims and continue this struggle which started long before I came along," said French actress Muriel Robin, who had organised a similar rally last month in the capital.

The rallies drew a number of men, including Tanguy, a 19-year-old student who turned out in the western city of Rennes to declare backing for "a movement which is not based on sex -- it's not a fight pitting men against women but a fight by men and women, together, against inequality."

The #NousToutes movement started out in France in September, inspired by the #MeToo campaign that began last year since when the number of cases of sexual violence reported to police in France has risen 23 percent.

Latest French government figures say 2017 saw 225,000 cases of domestic violence against women by their partners while 2016 saw 123 deaths.

A day ahead of Sunday's UN-designated International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women there were further marches in a number of cities across Europe.

Macron last year made sexual equality a priority of his presidency.

But "if the money is not forthcoming public policy won't follow on," warned De Haas, speaking two days after several civil organisations called for a huge increase in public resources dedicated to the problem.